Download the MP3 HereLast week the Pakastani government arrested five American citizens on the suspicion that they were planning to attack the Chashma Nuclear Plant. All five men are dual nationals of Pakistan and the USA and they recently lived in Washington DC.
According to news reports all five have been questioned by both the Pakistani police and the FBI. They were arrested while trying to make contact with Al-Qaeda terrorist groups. Another news report indicates the five have been charged and will stand trial in Pakistan.
The Chasma Nuclear plant is a small 300 Mw pressurized water reactor that was built in Pakistan with the assistance of China. It is very similar to the Quinshan nuclear plant. The plant is very reliable – during a recent fuel cycle it ran at 95% capacity factor. It’s unclear what sort of threat the men posed to the plant, but it is doubtful that there was much of a risk to the plant or to the public. Even if the men had taken control of the plant, without detailed knowledge of the plant’s safety systems it would be very difficult for them to cause reactor damage. Core damaging events usually take many hours to reach the point at which the fuel begins to over heat and by that time the military would be able to retake control.
Happy Holidays everyone! This week marks the 4th anniversary of the first episode of This Week in Nuclear. Wow! Time has flown by!
Producing the show has been an amazing experience for me; I’ve met people from all around the world, many of whom I consider my friends; I’ve been exposed to new ideas and new situations; and I’ve expanded my knowledge of the nuclear business in areas like politics, communications, and financing. While I came into this adventure with a lot of experience operating nuclear plants and training nuclear workers, and the longer I do this the more I learn. God willing I’ll be at this for at least another four years! Thank you for your support!
I apologize for the slow down in the number of shows over the last three weeks. I’ve had a very busy time at work since the beginning of December trying to get the typical end of year things taken care of in time for the holidays. I’m taking some time off, too, so I had to make sure everything was set before I left. Thank you for your patience and I’ll be starting back up again the first week in January. Until then I’m taking a little time off.
#1 by Jason Ribeiro - December 26th, 2009 at 17:32
Another great post John! Congratulations on the anniversary!
#2 by Lee Popov - December 28th, 2009 at 21:22
“PLANNING is not the only obstacle to a rebirth of nuclear power in Britain. The technology’s torturous economics are, if anything, even trickier. The trouble is that, whereas the fuel is cheap, nuclear-power plants themselves are very expensive to build and the pay-off from that investment is slow.
It is hard to know the true cost of a modern nuclear plant. Most Western reactors that are still running were built years ago (Britain’s newest, Sizewell B, is 14 years old). Two new reactors of the type Britain may choose are being constructed in Finland and France. Discouragingly, the Finnish reactor, originally priced at €3 billion (£2.1 billion at the time), is three years late and around €2 billion more expensive than expected. The French plant is also thought to be over budget, by around 20%.
To the industry’s opponents, all this is proof that nuclear electricity is uneconomical. Generous atomic subsidies offered in America—including loan guarantees, tax breaks and promises to cover cost overruns—lend support to that view, though ministers have promised that new nuclear plants in Britain will receive no such special treatment.”
http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14859289